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Wednesday,
October 10, 2007

Nephew draws
fire over card game

Alex Davy
Staff writer

Wednesday, October
10, 2007

A strategy card
game published by Maplewood city council candidate John
Nephew has drawn criticism for its violent subject matter.

"Let's Kill"
casts players in the role of deranged serial killers competing
with each other for media coverage. Players draw victims,
weapons and locations from two 55-card decks, using implements
like weed whackers, bread trucks and even sporks to off
their quarry in the most sensational way possible. It's
published by Atlas Games, the company Nephew runs with his
wife, games editor Michelle Nephew.

"I'm absolutely
appalled by this game," says Maplewood resident Judith
Franey, an early childhood educator who has worked in the
Saint Paul public school system for 23 years. "Fantasy
and imagination are powerful tools that fuel reality, and
I worry about the effect this game will have on people's
minds." Franey is also the author of "The Kindness
Curriculum," an activity book for parents and teachers
aimed at child development.

Nephew says that
critics of his game are missing the point. "The fundamental
issue is that people have different ideas about what they
find humorous," Nephew says. "What appealed to
me about "Let's Kill' was its tongue-in-cheek attitude.
It's a satire, and with any satire, there are going to be
people who can't find the humor in it."

Franey heard
complaints from friends and neighbors in the weeks leading
up to the primary election, and a campaign flyer from David
Bartol, a one-time candidate in the council race, prompted
her to look at the Atlas Games website. "I don't consider
myself a political person, but this issue really hit home
for me," Franey says. "It's pure violence - it's
horrific." Bartol has since dropped out of the race,
endorsing incumbent council member Rebecca Cave and candidate
DelRay Rokke.

The rules booklet
that accompanies the game describes it as "A work of
satire that comments on the media's exploitation of the
most horrific elements of our society... for no other purpose
than to increase ratings and garner advertising revenue."
This explanation is scribbled out in red ink, ostensibly
by a killer's hand, followed by the comment "yeah,
right, this is social commentary. totally. no! we play it
because it's funny!"

The card art
is not the realistic kind seen in "first-person shooter"
video games like Grand Theft Auto and Doom 3; instead, the
crude stick figures of "Let's Kill" resemble idle,
notebook-margin doodles. One of the victim cards is even
a reference to Nephew's wife: Michelle, the Sadistic Game
Editor. But for Franey, the childlike simplicity of the
game is part of the problem. "It's absolutely creepy,"
says Judith Franey. "This is the kind of art used by
children. This is offensive. This is not satire. The modeling
and the message are everything, and I worry about the impact
it's going to have."

Nephew answers
The argument is absurd, Nephew says. "It amounts to
saying that Monopoly teaches people to become heartless,
predatory capitalists, driving people into bankruptcy through
brutal mortgages."

Nephew's company
is also an award-winning publisher of children's games,
including "Once Upon a Time," featured in GAMES
Magazine's Best Family Card Game section in 1997. Players
create a story together, using their cards to steer the
narrative toward their own happily-ever-after ending. "It's
a fantastic game because it varies tremendously depending
on who you play it with," Nephew says. "If you
play it with a group of ten-year-old kids, the stories are
light and imaginative and wonderful. If you play it with
a group of college kids, they tend to be bawdy and funny."
"Once Upon a Time" is even used in classrooms
as an education tool, exercising students' reading and language
skills and fostering creativity, he said.

With Atlas Games'
catalogue of more than 200 titles, Nephew says, it's easy
to take a select few out of context. Most of his games are
sold in stores that cater to serious hobbyist gamers, the
kind who spend hours recreating the battle of Waterloo with
meticulously hand-painted miniatures. In other words, Nephew
says, not exactly the kind of places children are likely
to frequent.

But one of the
criticisms leveled against "Let's Kill" concerns
its packaging, which appears to state that the game is "suitable
for ages 8 and up." It should read 18 and up, Nephew
says, but an error caused the numbers to be printed on top
of each other. A closer look at the game's box shows that
the number one appears to be superimposed over the eight.

"This is
not a game you'd accidentally buy for your kids. Even if
the blood spatter on the box and the game's description
didn't give it away, we don't sell this kind of game in
children's stores," Nephew says. The product description
on the Atlas Games website reads "For mature audiences
only" in bold capital letters.

Other reactions
Reactions from city council members have been mixed. "It's
a pretty sick premise for a game," says Council Member
Erik Hjelle, a Cave/Rokke supporter. "I think it sends
a pretty poor message to young people and people in general
that this is an acceptable fantasy." Council Member
Will Rossbach, who with Nephew led primary voting, disagrees.
"These are stick figures doing imaginary things,"
he says. "The controversy is being drummed up by people
opposing John Nephew. He's being picked on. If this is the
only thing they can find to diminish John's reputation,
he must be a pretty good guy."

"This is
a manufactured issue designed to deflect attention away
from the real problems facing Maplewood," Nephew says.
"It's a naked political distraction. There's been a
serious effort to confuse people and turn them away from
the polls, because if voters show up, they're going to vote
for change."